I actually wrote this post yesterday as soon as I finished the book because I was so excited to talk about it! If you have been around here for awhile you know that I read Chris Kyle's book American Sniper, you can read my review HERE, as well as Marcus Luttrell's book Lone Survivor which you can read about HERE. I loved both of those books and so quite awhile ago when we were at BJ's and I saw this one I had to grab it, I put it to the side because I had so many other books to get through and wanting to read this one so much would give me motivation to push through the ones I was less interested in. I finally picked it up last week and I have been so into it ever since.
Generally when I love a book this much I will finish it in a day because I cannot put it down, and I definitely could have done that with this books but oddly enough my days have been flying by and the only time I have managed to pick it up has been at night before going to bed. In a way I suppose I prolonged my enjoyment and really learned soo much! So before I give everything away here lets get into it.
The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy Seal Sniper Corps and How I Trained America's Deadliest Marksmen
Now before I get into it I bet you are wondering if all three books are basically the same because they were all written by Navy Seal Snipers and to answer that question all the books have been extremely different which is another reason I have loved reading them so much. Everyone touches on the training they endured (and I mean endured) to because a Navy Seal but each persons experience and interpretation is completely different. In this type of field and training personality plays a big role and in this book Brandon Webb touches a little on the personalities of both Chris Kyle and Marcus Luttrell who he worked with as well as opening up himself and letting us get a peek inside his world and who he was and became to accomplish so much.
The synopsis on goodreads.com reads as follows:
BEFORE HE COULD FORGE A BAND OF ELITE WARRIORS… HE HAD TO BECOME ONE HIMSELF.
Brandon Webb’s experiences in the world’s most elite sniper corps are the stuff of legend. From his grueling years of training in Naval Special Operations to his combat tours in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan, The Red Circle provides a rare and riveting look at the inner workings of the U.S. military through the eyes of a covert operations specialist.
Yet it is Webb’s distinguished second career as a lead instructor for the shadowy “sniper cell” and Course Manager of the Navy SEAL Sniper Program that trained some of America’s finest and deadliest warriors—including Marcus Luttrell and Chris Kyle—that makes his story so compelling. Luttrell credits Webb’s training with his own survival during the ill-fated 2005 Operation Redwing in Afghanistan. Kyle went on to become the U.S. military’s top marksman, with more than 150 confirmed kills.
From a candid chronicle of his student days, going through the sniper course himself, to his hair-raising close calls with Taliban and al Qaeda forces in the northern Afghanistan wilderness, to his vivid account of designing new sniper standards and training some of the most accomplished snipers of the twenty-first century, Webb provides a rare look at the making of the Special Operations warriors who are at the forefront of today’s military.
Explosive, revealing, and intelligent, The Red Circle provides a uniquely personal glimpse into one of the most challenging and secretive military training courses in the world.
This book was incredibly well written, not only does he give you insight into his life starting at a very early age, he gave you hope that even with no direction and no encouragement if you set your mind to something you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. Brandon didn't come from a well to do family with every opportunity handed to him he worked hard and decided that he was going to make something of himself, he looked at everything in his life as a learning opportunity and the harder it was to achieve the more drive he had to exceed the expectation of the task at hand.
In this book he doesn't leave you feeling like he's a narcissist wanting you to sit here and read all about his accomplishments he teaches you. I think that is the difference from this book and all the others I have read just like it, I learned SO MUCH! He doesn't just teach you about being a sniper he was search and rescue before that and he teaches you about the water, the wind and how they affect each other. When he talked about guns it wasn't just aim and shoot it was about ballistics, the inner and outer working of your weapon and how things you didn't even realize would ever come into play (the earths rotation) could affect your accuracy and more importantly why. This guy doesn't talk about what he learns he gives you an education right along with him!
If he can teach me as much as I felt that I learned by reading his book I cant imagine the instruction he was to the many men he trained to go out and defend this country. Brandon Webb took what he learned good and bad from all the training he had been through (which was a lot) and used it to develop a program that would train guys in the best way to be the best they could be. He saw great leadership and he kept that with him, he saw terrible leadership and he learned from it.. he stood his ground when he knew he could help others regardless of the consequences and made the best changes he could to provide an amazing education. This education, this training helped save lives including that of Marcus Luttrell who credits Brandon Webb and all the extra time he spent with him while in his "stalking" phase of training with saving his life on mission Operation Redwing when things went terribly wrong.
Maybe it seems weird that I am so interested in all this and in a way its mostly about taking advantage of any opportunity to learn something and these books are FULL of information about the troops out there fighting for this country, their training, politics and experiencing war from a completely different side of things. We see what the media portrays on TV and its not that I am discrediting any of that but lets be honest we see what they want us to see. Don't get me wrong these books are only allowed to delve into so much for security purposes and I'm sure political reasons but none the less they give you a way bigger picture of what is really going on out there, how it starts and the actions they are permitted to take to eliminate a threat while maintaining as much peace as possible.
The reality is this country is at war and it affects each and every one of us, some more and some less.. why not be more informed?
It is definitely my intention to scope out more of these books the second I get close to somewhere that sells them, but in the meantime I cannot recommend this book enough! I called my Mom yesterday and short of demanded she find it and buy it for my Dad, I cannot wait for Jason to read it so we can talk about it (he just finished American Sniper). Get your hands on this book, I promise if you don't enjoy this kind of thing you may be surprised and if you do and really sit down and get into it you will come out with a wider perspective on so much and an education on so much more!
Thank you guys as always for stopping by! I hope you are having a great day, if you would like to read more about Brandon Webb you can do so HERE at his website which also lists many other books that he has written (and that I cant wait to read!).
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